Bottom up approaches to small scale public realm in dense global cities
By Alpa Depani, 2021
Fellow’s Profile
Fellow’s Profile
Bottom-up approaches to small-scale public realm in dense global cities
Designing successful public spaces in densely populated global cities
2017
London
I am an architect, artist and educator and currently hold the role of Placemaking Lead in the Planning Directorate at the London borough of Waltham Forest.
My Fellowship was focused on public space and community activism. It was titled Bottom Up Approaches to Small Scale Public Realm in Dense Cities, and was a comparative study of public space provision and design in New York, Tokyo and Hong Kong, learning lessons for London.
I have a long-standing personal and professional interest in the study and design of public realm and the role it plays in building equitable communities. The Fellowship was an opportunity to explore how community groups can self-organise to create public space that is specific and of value to their neighbourhoods, against the context and competing interests of increasingly commercialised and developer-led urban landscapes.
Since completing the Fellowship and disseminating my research in the form of an exhibition, talks and a book, I have moved from private practice into the public sector where I have been able to influence public space design and policy for the benefit of Londoners.
By Alpa Depani, 2022
Architect Alpa Depani (CF 2017) wrote an article on urban renewal for The Architectural Review published on 6 May. Alpa discussed learnings from her Fellowship, which explored successful public spaces in densely populated global cities.
By Alpa Depani, 2022
All Reports are copyright © the author. The moral right of the author has been asserted. The views and opinions expressed by any Fellow are those of the Fellow and not of the Churchill Fellowship or its partners, which have no responsibility or liability for any part of them.
By Alpa Depani, 2022
Architect Alpa Depani (CF 2017) wrote an article on urban renewal for The Architectural Review published on 6 May. Alpa discussed learnings from her Fellowship, which explored successful public spaces in densely populated global cities.
By Alpa Depani, 2022
All Reports are copyright © the author. The moral right of the author has been asserted. The views and opinions expressed by any Fellow are those of the Fellow and not of the Churchill Fellowship or its partners, which have no responsibility or liability for any part of them.